Valentine's Roses
by Silver Sailor Ganymede
Summary: [HarukaMinako] What sort of idiot would buy themselves roses on Valentine's Day?


Disclaimer: I do not own Sailor Moon.

Valentine's Roses  
By Silver Sailor Ganymede

She didn't ever think she'd felt so stupid. What kind of idiot goes and buys themselves flowers on Valentine's Day? The sort of idiot that's just been left by her lover because she somehow managed to get herself caught in bed with her friend: the sort of idiot who hadn't realised that her lover was already in love with someone else: that sort of idiot, in other words her, Ten'oh Haruka.

Sure it was only one rose, one single red rose, but it still hurt. She had gone and bought the rose without realising that there was no one to give it to, not now Michiru had left her. Not that it stung that badly, they'd fallen out of love a long time ago. There was someone she could have given the rose to, but all the same… she didn't know. She didn't know if the other girl would want to make it anything serious. She never had before. Neither of them had.

Haruka suddenly found that she had wandered down to the beach, just like she always used to when she was thinking. She didn't know why, she just felt she had to. The beach was calming, winds forever moving across the Earth. They were free, just like she wanted to be.

Haruka sat down on the damp sand, not caring that it was freezing cold. She could think when she was out in the open, and thinking was what she really needed to do right now. Was it a good idea to tell her or not? She didn't want the girl to be just another fling… there was something there, just like there had been with Michiru in the past, and she didn't want to lose it.

It was then that she caught sight of someone in the corner of her eye. As pale as a ghost as she sat on the sand, the girl who sat there was nevertheless beautiful, love itself in corpereal form. She played with her golden hair, twisting it round her hands, then looked up, straight at Haruka, a look of despair coming into her cerulean eyes. It was Aino Minako, the very girl Haruka had been thinking about.

"Haruka," Minako spoke as Haruka walked over to her, the words barely audible as they were carried away by the winds.

"Minako," Haruka nodded in reply, "I just wanted to…"

"Look, Haruka, it was a mistake," Minako interrupted her, sighing, though the look in her eyes plainly told Haruka that she was lying. "Just go back to Michiru, forget all about me. I'm not worth breaking her heart over." A tear trickled down the blonde's face, though she didn't seem to realise it at the time.

"It wasn't a mistake," Haruka replied, the words leaving her mouth of their own accord.

"Do you really want to hurt _her_?" Minako asked, the word _her_ dripping from her mouth like poison. It was plain to Haruka who she meant, and it was also clear that she had to correct the other girl.

"She's left me."

"What?" Minako turned around astonished. Did Haruka really say what she thought she just had?

"She's left me," Haruka repeated bitterly. "Michiru's left me for Setsuna."

Minako's eyes flickered over to the rose in Haruka's hand, "But the rose…"

"This?" Haruka picked it up, twirling it round. "I know, what sort of idiot buys themselves flowers on Valentine's Day? Well I guess that's one thing you could say, but to be honest I didn't buy it for myself. I was just waiting for the right time to give it to _her_."

Minako looked away, eyes downcast, as though her deepest hopes had been slashed to pieces in front her, tortured until they were beyond even death.

She held out the rose, "For you, Minako-chan. It matches your bow after all."

Minako blinked and looked up, "What?"

"The rose is for you, Venus," Haruka replied. "I already told you, you're not a mistake. If anyone's a mistake then it's me. I can  
understand if you don't want to take this but…"

Haruka was caught off-guard as the small blonde flung herself into her arms. She was crying, but this time not of sadness.

"I love you, Minako," Haruka said at last.

Minako smiled, "You have no idea how long I've wanted you to say that. I love you too, Haruka."

She twirled the rose round in her hand and blushed, "So it was for me all along."

"Of course," Haruka laughed. "Like I said, who'd by roses for themselves on Valentine's Day?"


End file.
